Which to use
“locked” is a verb and “locket” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,438
- “locked” frequency rank
- #33,714
- “locket” frequency rank
- 37152
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | locked | locket |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of lock | A pendant that opens to reveal a space used for storing a photograph or other small item. |
Where the eye mixes locked and locket
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between locked and locket
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: locked is /lɒkt/ while locket is /ˈlɒkɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “locked” becomes t in “locket”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37152, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
locked is recorded at frequency rank #3,438, classified as averb, pronounced /lɒkt/. locket is at rank #33,714, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɒkɪt/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 37152, this pair ranks #296,957 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of locked vs locket
Shared letters: ceklo. Private to "locked": d. Private to "locket": t.
"locked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "locket" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "locked" and "locket" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "locked" vs "locket" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "locked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "locket" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #296,957 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "locked" and "locket" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "locket vs lockup". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #296,957 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.